Governor Lombardo Touts Getting Sh*t Done In First 100 days

After his State of the State address, reporter David Charms asked Governor Lombardo “What are you most most looking forward to? Gov. Lombardo quipped, “Getting shit done.”

I caught up with Gov. Lombardo as he left the Legislative Building after his first State of the State Address. I asked him what he is most looking forward to:

"Getting s*** done." pic.twitter.com/KpSPgH0SON

— David Charns (@davidcharns) January 24, 2023

Governor Lombardo highlights his first 100 days of accomplishments and leadership as doing things “The Nevada Way”, a slogan introduced by Lombardo in his first address to the Nevada Legislature. His highlights include a series of business deals, transformative legislation, and engagements with stakeholders, community leaders and constituents across the Silver State. Taking to Twitter, Governor Lombardo listed these highlights while promising there is “more to come.”

Days after taking office, I signed Executive Orders 1 and 2.

Executive Order 1 ended all of the COVID-19 executive orders from the previous administration. Effective immediately.

Executive Order 2 ordered state employees back to pre-COVID office hours by July 1. pic.twitter.com/nFa4CEZChA

— Governor Joe Lombardo (@JosephMLombardo) April 14, 2023

His first executive order lifted numerous executive orders former Governor Sisolak implemented in response to the pandemic. In a comprehensive report published by Politico, the state of Nevada ranked near the bottom, an overall 48th in the country, in pandemic response. In Lombardo’s second executive order, he addressed state worker shortages as many state employees have not resumed normal, in-person office operations since March 2020 and many employees retired during the pandemic. It has been reported that there is a 24 percent vacancy in state positions.

The next day, I got to join Tesla as they announced two new factories and $3.6 billion in new investment in Nevada. This unprecedented investment reiterated what I said the night before in my State of the State address: Nevada is now open for business! pic.twitter.com/zry8yUnWJV

— Governor Joe Lombardo (@JosephMLombardo) April 14, 2023

Following the $3.6 billion deal with Tesla, Governor Lombardo followed with additional executive orders which addressed freezing and cutting regulations and ordering a statewide education audit to bring “transparency and accountability” to Nevada’s failing public school system. The Governor has promised a historic investment of $2 billion dollars in education and is facing a Democratic budget asking for $250 million more.

Highlights from last month touted by the Governor also include five pieces of legislation focused on election integrity, school safety, public safety, school choice, and government modernization, His election integrity bill, Senate Bill 405 upends the sweeping changes to election laws the Democratic majority passed during the pandemic without a single Republican vote. Lombardo’s legislation includes: photo identification to vote; the last four digits of a social security or driver’s license number on the mailed ballot verified by the county clerk; mail ballots by request, thereby eliminating the voter’s existing requirement to opt-out; mailed ballots must be received at the close of business on Election Day, instead of four days after election day; and, eliminates unlimited ballot harvesting by an unauthorized ballot harvester. The Governor’s proposal limits ballot collection to 30 ballots and the harvester must submit an affidavit and report to the Secretary of State’s office.

The Governor’s school safety bill, Assembly Bill 330,  voted out of committee yesterday. AB330 the “Safer and Supportive Schools Act” repeals restorative justice measures codified by the legislature in 2019.

Governor Lombardo introduced Senate Bill 412, which makes the possession and distribution of fentanyl a felony. This legislation is in response to Assembly Bill 236, passed in 2019 by the Democratic legislature,which decreased penalties for drug trafficking. As reported by Fox News, Attorney General Aaron Ford has flip-flopped on AB 236, yet he still remains soft on fentanyl possession.

Under @AaronDFordNV’s plan: possessing enough fentanyl to kill up to 2,000 people would only be a misdemeanor.

Under Gov. Lombardo's plan: possessing any amount of fentanyl would be a felony.

It's clear which plan saves more lives in Nevada. https://t.co/YUxIUhheBX #NVleg

— Nevada War Room – Better NV PAC (@BetterNevadaPAC) April 13, 2023

With a Democratic supermajority in the State Assembly and near supermajority in the State Senate, the Governor’s proposals are facing strong headwinds. Republicans cannot afford to lose one seat in the state senate in 2024 or the Governor’s veto pen will be rendered useless. Legislators are half through their biennium session and the progressive Democratic majority has introduced a series of bills to raise taxes, expand government programs to undocumented immigrants, and increase government spending. In the next 100 days of Gov. Lombardo’s leadership, The Nevada Way will be tested, as will his veto pen.